[jimworcs]

You are quite right Trvlr, you have exposed me for the jealous, stupid fraud that I am. I can see now that any suggestion that you may have any prejudice whatsover is utterly unjust, and I apologise unreservedly.

For obvious reasons this is absolutely ludicrous (I am a US citizen with a US passport, the sunglasses I was wearing were worth more than the average Fijian makes in a month, the laptop I was carrying was worth almost 3 YEARS salary of the average Fijian, and the bank account record I had ON HAND which they NEVER CHECKED showed 4 TIMES that amount

I now accept fully that as a US citizen and passport holder, the airline staff should have recognised that it was obvious that someone with your kind of sunglasses should be allowed to proceed, notwithstanding that their specific instructions that

These guidelines stated that the airline had to insure that I had purchased a ticket out of Fiji, AND prove funds.

I suggest you write to the airline and get them to change these instructions to read... please ensure that the passenger has purchased a ticket out of Fiji AND is able to prove funds, except where they are wearing nice sunglasses, in which case the passenger should be permitted to proceed".

I fully recognise that to imply that you were making sweeping assertions based on nationality was to totally mis-represent you, and for this I heartily apologise. I now recognise that when you wrote this..

Air Pacific go under along with the nebulous government of Fiji (which owns approx. 50% of the airline) and the tourist trade there, which is down well over 60 percent (with good reason; I found the local businesses to be as unscrupulous, greedy, and negligent as this airline), and that is exactly what I am doing

it was after exhaustive research and fully accept that all local businesses in Fiji are unscrupulous and greedy as well as all Fijians being equal opportunity scumbags.

I don't know if 'anti-American' is the exact sentiment when describing the attitude of the Fijians - I found the natives to be equal-opportunity scumbags, including the Indian (from India) business owners there - "fresh meat" or "ATM machines" is, from my experience, how any caucasian is viewed by the society.

In any event, clearly you provided back up for your views and I must have missed it the first time I read it. How could your views be considered to be in any way racist when

The Indians there view the natives as lazy, greedy, alcoholics, and, I have to say from my experiences there, generally, they're right on the mark

Clearly, if "the Indians" think that, and you substantiate it, I was wrong to make any improper implication and I can only repeat my humble apologies.

I hope you don't mean it when you say

no more American dollars from me for Australia

I am sure if you give Australia the chance to apologise, it can all be sorted out. It just seems to me that you and Australia have had a bit of a misunderstanding. I am sure that in future, all governments will let you in

judging by your appearance and obvious access to funds,

Likewise, any implication that you might hold views which are insulting to women was utterly ridiculous and I am bereft that I have maligned you in such a way. I am sure that when you said this

Luisa actually worked at the airport in Sydney though, and 'control-freak' definitely applies as well as a word with four letters that begins with c and ends with t, but then again these terms apply to just about every female employee I encountered at Kingsford-Smith (Sydney)

and this

The agent was a 'she' by the way, and curiously, almost all the power-hungry control-freaks I've encountered have been female - they bore an unsettling resemblance to the frigid nuns from Catholic school quite frankly, but I digress.

Actually, US citizens are not "lucky" we aren't harassed more when we enter foreign countries - we are just "richer" and more "powerful", having as I'm sure you know, the strongest economy and military force in the world, foreign countries want Americans as allies and for American tourists to spend American dollars in their country and hence, facilitate this spending.

On reflection, I realise that it was folly for me to question the world of someone "richer" and "more powerful" than us non US citizens, and I hope you will accept my fulsome apology in the spirit in which it is intended.


With love..